Mr. Patni’s father and brothers founded Patni Computers in the 1970s and were among the pioneers of the information technology field in India.

Over the years, the company grew closer to $1.5 billion in assets. They sought a public listing in 2004, and in 2011, IT firm iGate acquired Patni Computers for US$1.5 billion.

Following the sale of the business and wealth sharing, Mr Patni established a single family office – RAAY Global Investments – to ensure his legacy becomes a vehicle for growth and entrepreneurship.

“My family office did all the trust administration and estate planning for my children, so if something were to happen to me, it would continue to work for the family without any confusion,” she said.

The wealthy Indian diaspora who are yet to fall into the billionaire category (typically families with more than $5 million in investable assets) are taking their first steps into more formal office structures through the multi-family office (MFO). a growing segment of the industry.

An MFO allows diverse affluent families to pool their resources to access high-quality, personalized financial advice while remaining affordable.

Rather than setting up a single-family office, Mr Vimal Shah, chairman of East African FMCG company Bidco Africa, relies on a network of MFOs spread across Singapore, Mauritius, Dubai and Switzerland.

“They give us all the details and advice on where to invest, which the family then digests before deciding what we want to do,” he said.

This international approach is increasingly being taken by super-rich Indians in the diaspora who are seeking opportunities beyond their homeland.

When it comes to parting with their money, young super-rich Indians and those living abroad are increasingly investing in tech-based startups to build wealth.

According to DBS’s report, in the last two decades, Indian family offices have supported more than 200 startups and continue to be active participants in startup financing rounds.

Until recently, wealthy Indian families were most likely to invest their wealth in physical assets such as real estate and gold. Approximately one-third of its assets consist of residential real estate at home and abroad.

But post-Covid high interest rates and soft real estate markets have caused some families to rethink the value of their real estate investments.

“Investing in real estate in India is not as easy as in Singapore or elsewhere and it is also a very unstable sector,” Mr. Patni said.

“For a long time I thought the property climate in the UK was very good, then Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war hit and suddenly returns weren’t very good.”